Dr Damian Lucas
Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW)
Danielle Flakelar-Carney
Department of Environment and Climate Change
Incorporating Aboriginal cultural values in water management, western NSW
Water holds important cultural values for Aboriginal people in western NSW. River flows are highly valued for animating wetlands and floodplains in this semi-arid environment – water literally brings to life important places, stories and living creatures (plants, fish and other animals).
However current water management gives little recognition of Aboriginal cultural values of water and wetlands. Water management has been designed for, and dominated by, the needs of extractive users. Indeed only recently have there been moves to incorporate biodiversity values in water management.
This paper will discus these issues of cultural values and water by drawing upon a project being conducted by the Department of Environment and Conservation (NSW). The project is developing innovative ways of documenting and characterising Aboriginal values of water and wetlands. The project is also developing innovative strategies for incorporating cultural values in the technical domains of environmental planning and river management.
This paper will argue for the importance of recognising contemporary Aboriginal values in water, and the centrality oral history as a methodology. The paper will also argue for the importance of ‘mapping’ cultural values, literally representing cultural values on maps, as a strategy for communicating cultural values in a language recognisable to water managers.
Project: Aboriginal Cultural Values of Wetlands in Western NSW
Biography
Damian Lucas
Damian Lucas an environmental historian with a particular interest in cultural values of water in rural Australia. He is the researcher on the Aboriginal Cultural Values of the Macquarie Marshes and Gwydir Wetlands project, which is a component of a broader NSW Wetlands Restoration Plan - a suite of projects including water efficiency, water buy-backs and improved wetland management. The Recovery Plan is innovative in that Aboriginal cultural values are being given significant focus and recognition, this marks a significant departure from the traditional focus primarily on ecological values of wetlands.
Email: damian.lucas@environment.nsw.gov.au
Danielle Flakelar-Carney
Danielle Flakelar-Carney is a Wailwan and Wakka Wakka woman and lives in Western NSW. Danielle has a background in adult education, delivering Indigenous land management programs throughout Western NSW. Danielle also has a strong interest in Aboriginal cultural revival, reconnecting people to country and recording family history. She has a particular interest in the role of water in the Aboriginal cultural landscape.
Email: Danielle.flakelar@environment.nsw.gov.au